IT security

No Deal Brexit papers warn of stark future for UK tech

The government has published the first of its No Deal Brexit contingency planning notices, containing sobering messages for the UK technology industry Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Apache Struts users urged to update due to new security flaw

Another security flaw has been discovered in the Apache Struts, which was at the heart of the massive Equifax data breach in 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Councils at risk from unsupported Windows Server and SQL Server

Some local authorities are using unsupported server software, while others are not paying for extended support Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

European cloud adopters still lack basic security

Despite outpacing the rest of the world, the majority of organisations adopting cloud in Europe, the Middle East and Africa lack basic security, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Nearly a third of organisations still not GDPR ready

As the UK and other states implement the EU’s GDPR, many organisations admit they are still not fully compliant, but most claim to be able to respond to data subject access requests Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Better the data you know – how GDPR is affecting UK tech companies

As the dust settles from the General Data Protection Regulation, the implications for technology firms in the UK are becoming clearer Continue Reading

By

• Rebecca West, Coffin Mew

Superdrug denies data breach

Superdrug has warned online customers it believes may have had personal details exposed, but claims its systems were not compromised, in what could be the first GDPR-related extortion attempt Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

New Zealand to run national cyber security exercise

The island-nation will test the resilience of its critical infrastructure in November 2018, bringing together multiple agencies to protect assets of national significance Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Online crime costs more than $1m a minute

More than $1m is lost to cyber crime every minute, a report reveals, underlining the increasing and significant threats businesses face online Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Veritas aims to boost NetBackup with simplified UI and setup

Two decades-old enterprise product upgraded with backups that can be set in three clicks, down from 30, plus instant VM workload recovery and capacity monitoring and planning Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Retail and finance top cyber targets

Retail and finance remain the top cyber attack targets, but the second quarter also saw a spike in attacks against the manufacturing industry and an increase in remote desktop attacks, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microsoft announces free election cyber defence tools

Microsoft has revealed it recently disrupted domains associated with a Russian cyber attack group believed to be targeting US political groups ahead of the midterm elections Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cloud security: Weighing up the risk to enterprises

In this guest post, Chris Hodson, chief information security officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at internet security firm Zscaler, takes a closer look at why cloud security remains ... Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Malaysia’s financial sector warms up to cloud, but lacks security leadership

Almost two-thirds of Malaysia’s financial services firms are developing a cloud strategy, but not all have a security plan in place Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

AI: Black boxes and the boardroom

Computers can and do make mistakes and AI is only as good its training so relying purely on machine intelligence to make critical decisions is risky Continue Reading

By

• Tim Wright and Antony Bott

NHS trusts lose nearly 10,000 patient records a year

Report calls for NHS trusts to work to abolish handwritten notes in hospitals to prevent loss of personal documents and to introduce a patient identity protocol Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Planned Australian law raises tech firms’ security concerns

A digital industry group representing some of the world’s largest tech firms is opposed to proposed Australian laws aimed at compelling them to help security agencies and police Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber Security Challenge UK to scale up

Cybersecurity Challenge UK plans to scale up its events and its role in coordinating UK industry efforts to attract talented people to the cyber security profession Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Apple confirms teen hacker took no customer data

Teenage “fan” who broke into Apple’s mainframe from his home in Melbourne is believed to have downloaded 90GB of secure files, but no customer data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ASEAN firms need to overcome DevOps hurdles

Southeast Asia has had pockets of success with DevOps, but most organisations across the region will need to overcome cultural and legacy challenges to succeed Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Trump sparks speculation after repealing cyber attack restraints

The US president has sparked speculation about US policy on launching cyber attacks by repealing Obama-era restraints, underlining the need for international rules on cyber warfare Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Global infosec spending to top $114bn in 2018, says Gartner

The need for improved detection, response and privacy is driving the demand for security products and services in response to security risks, business needs and industry changes, Gartner reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Inside DevOps, containers and enterprise security

Global corporates are waking up to containers and orchestrated containerisation for software development that is fast and safe. Computer Weekly looks at the best approach to ensure security is not compromised along the way Continue Reading

By

• Christian Annesley

Google Chrome flaw puts privacy at risk

Imperva security researcher urges Google Chrome users to update to the latest version after discovering a vulnerability that could be exploited to uncover private data Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Scotland's Improvement Service signs up to pilot digital identity platform

The Improvement Service will pilot the Yoti digital identity platform, test the use of blockchain applications and take a cloud first approach with its myaccount citizen portal Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

The National Archives deploys Egress to support FoI requests

Egress Secure Workspace is being used by the Advisory Council for The National Archives, who require a collaboration environment to assess FoI requests Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

ICS security at risk in key verticals, report shows

The security of industrial control systems (ICS) is at risk in key verticals due to under staffing, under investment and human error, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Intel releases fix for latest chip security flaws

Businesses and consumers are advised to download security updates from Intel for new security flaws that could allow attackers to access protected data, but some cloud providers could see a performance impact Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Businesses urged to patch Microsoft flaw allowing MFA bypass

Security researchers are urging enterprises to update their software after the discovery of a vulnerability that could undermine the security provided by multifactor authentication Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Outsource security operations, not control

What critical security controls can be outsourced and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Consumers accept fraud danger as online shopping increases, research finds

The majority of UK consumers see the threat of online fraud as “inevitable” as e-commerce popularity rises Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Phishing remains top fraud enabler, RSA reports

Phishing is the most popular way of enabling fraud for cyber criminals, who are also increasingly using rogue mobile apps, mobile browsers and social media, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Industrial control systems a specialised cyber target

 Continue Reading

Cyber attackers target infrastructure

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out about the growing sophistication of cyber attackers who specialise in industrial control systems. They are fast, efficient and able to move between IT and OT environments. We also discover how few businesses in general are reporting cyber crime, as they should. The issue also tracks Google’s playing court to the C-suite, with respect to cloud computing. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

UK banks under pressure to improve downtime reporting under new FCA rules

To make it easier for customers to compare and switch between current account providers, UK banks are under pressure to improve their reporting processes for downtime and security incidents Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

FBI warns of global ATM cyber crime spree

The FBI has issued a warning to banks that cyber criminals are planning to steal millions in a coordinated worldwide attack on cash machines Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO strengthens commitment to technology and innovation

Information Commissioner’s Office has demonstrated its commitment to technology and innovation by appointing a new executive director to focus on this area Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Banks lead in digital era fraud detection

All e-commerce businesses should follow the banks’ lead in how to detect fraud in the digital era, says RSA fraud and risk expert Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Most security pros concerned about election infrastructure

A majority of information security professionals believe that election infrastructure is vulnerable to cyber attack, a survey shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

UK firms concerned about cyber arms race

Continuous investment and activity are key in the cyber arms race, according to Databarracks, as research shows UK firms are worried about keeping up with security challenges Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Millions of businesses vulnerable to fax-based cyber attack

Hackers could exploit security vulnerabilities in fax machines to launch cyber attacks in millions of organisations around the world, researchers warn, underlining the need for cyber resilience Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Over 146 billion records to be stolen over next five years

The US will bear the brunt of data exfiltration efforts by cyber criminals, though Asia-Pacific nations such as Singapore will not be spared Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Mimecast extends core email security to enable cyber resilience

Mimecast continues to widen its cyber security capability through in-house development and strategic acquisition, as well as extend its core email security technologies to all other areas it applies Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Butlin’s warns of potential personal data breach

Holiday camp chain blames cyber breach on a phishing attack, implying that attackers were able to steal user credentials to access customer data – and underlining the need for security awareness training Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

NCR patches ATM vulnerabilities

NCR has patched ATM vulnerabilities discovered by Positive Technologies Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Microsoft looks at a Windows VM to sandbox rogue code

A feature revealed in the Windows Insider programme may appear in a future Windows 10 update for enterprises Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Under half of firms use vulnerability assessments

Less than half of organisations base their cyber defences on strategic vulnerability assessments, and a third of these do the bare minimum to meet compliance requirements, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO fines Emma’s Diary £140,000

The UK’s privacy watchdog has fined a marketing company for illegally collecting and selling personal information for political campaigning Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Smart cities a tempting target for cyber attackers

Smart cities are an attractive target for cyber attackers because of the growing number of connected systems embedded throughout their infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CW Benelux: Netherlands to experiment with self-driving trains

In this issue, read how Dutch railway operator ProRail will test self-driving trains on a small set of railroad tracks to learn if they can be part of the country’s notoriously busy network. Also, find out how a network of smart towns and cities is growing in the Netherlands, and why Dutch organisations are being urged to unite to fight DDoS attacks. Continue Reading

Brace for more Triton-like attacks, researchers warn

The world has not seen the last of industrial control system (ICS) attacks like Triton, researchers have warned Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Incomplete visibility a top security failing

Incomplete visibility of IT environments is among the most common basic enterprise security failings, as most organisations are still failing to achieve basic cyber security hygiene, a survey reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Dutch organisations must unite to fight DDoS attacks

 Continue Reading

Financial services firms lack the culture to innovate fast

Finance firms appear to be struggling to release new software quickly, a study from Contino has found Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Check Point warns of WhatsApp vulnerabilities

Researchers are warning of vulnerabilities in WhatsApp that allow threat actors to intercept and manipulate messages sent in a group chat Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber security double agents most common in the UK

Cyber security professionals who alternate between criminal and legitimate activities or move full-time into cyber criminal activity are more common in the UK than other countries, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australia calls for interventionist approach in new cyber agenda

The Australian government is forming a cyber defence network comprising security agencies and private sector partners to support a more interventionist approach towards cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Starbucks to advise on development of bitcoin trading platform

Coffee giant Starbucks has joined a group of firms advising Intercontinental Exchange on the development of a digital assets platform Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

AI security hype putting businesses at risk

The hype around artificial intelligence may be putting businesses at risk, according to a study that found most IT decision-makers believe AI is the answer to all cyber security challenges Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Lack of Dmarc email validation puts brands and customers at risk 

There is a worldwide lack of Dmarc email validation to defend against fraud and phishing attacks, putting organisations and customers at risk, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Industrial control systems a specialised cyber target

Cyber attackers specialising in industrial control systems are fast, efficient and able to move between IT and OT environments, a study has revealed Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Outsource responsibility, not accountability

What critical security controls can be outsourced and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Jirasek, Foresight Cyber

Mobile banking Trojans reach all-time high

Mobile banking Trojans topped the list of cyber threats in the second quarter of the year, according to research by Kaspersky Lab Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Half of UK consumers to exercise GDPR rights within a year

More than half of UK consumers will exercise their General Data Protection Regulation rights within a year and almost two-thirds will retract or review data use because of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, a study shows Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Virus outbreak at iPhone chip plant could delay shipments

A computer virus at an iPhone chip manufacturing plant could delay shipments of Apple’s latest smartphones, but the impact will be limited, say analysts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

The value of unified endpoint management

Given the diversity of devices people can use for work, IT needs to look at how it can unify device security Continue Reading

By

• Bob Tarzey

Alibaba Cloud makes deeper inroads into Malaysia

The Chinese cloud supplier’s second availability zone and upcoming DDoS scrubbing centre in Malaysia comes on the heels of growing investments in the Southeast Asian nation Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Almost all security can be outsourced, but not the risk

What critical security controls can be outsourced and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Emma Bickerstaffe, Information Security Forum (ISF)

UK security centre to launch IoT security standard

The London-based Centre for Strategic Cyber Space and Security Science is working on an internet of things security standard and has roped in participants from eight markets Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Google to alert firms of state-sponsored attacks on G Suite users

As cyber security increasingly becomes a market differentiator, Google has announced that businesses using G Suite cloud-based software can opt in to cyber attack alerts Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Risk tolerance key to security outsourcing policy

What critical security controls can be outsourced, and how do organisations – SMEs in particular – maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Bruce Beam , (ISC)²

Gorgon Group shows simple cyber attacks remain effective

A highly effective cyber attack group that appears to be based in Pakistan is carrying out targeted attacks against nation states at the same time as criminal operations, researchers have found Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Reddit breach exposes 2FA flaws

Reddit has reported a password breach despite using 2FA, exposing the weaknesses of two-factor authentication based on mobile text messages Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDPR harmonised with local laws in Nordic EU states

Sweden provides an interesting challenge for the European Union’s data protection regulation due to its laws around freedom of press and free speech Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Who should bear responsibility in cyber attacks on healthcare IT systems?

On 20 July, the Singapore government revealed that the non-medical personal details of about 1.5 million patients who had visited SingHealth’s specialist outpatient clinics and polyclinics between ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Three Carbanak cyber heist gang members arrested

Three alleged members of the Carbanak gang believed to be responsible for more than 100 cyber heists worldwide have been arrested, US authorities have announced Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Top things to consider in security outsourcing

What critical security controls can be outsourced, and how do organisations – SMEs in particular – maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Paddy Francis

Bromium evolves virtualisation-based security

Virtualisation-based security firm Bromium has evolved its technology to offer bidirectional protection for applications and underlying operating systems Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Top dark web indicators of compromise

There are 10 common activities on the dark web that indicate a data breach or some other security compromise has taken place, according to a specialist monitoring firm Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: A risk-based approach to security outsourcing

What critical security controls can be outsourced and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Rory Alsop

UK business overestimating level of consumer trust, study shows

UK consumer trust is low, with the majority of UK businesses admitting to selling customer data, a report reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

SamSam ransomware reaps $5.9m and counting

In just two and a half years, SamSam campaigns are believed to have netted nearly $6m for cyber criminals, an analysis of this adaptive and evasive strain of active ransomware reveals Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber security top priority for aircraft makers, says Airbus

There is a high level of collaboration in the aircraft industry on cyber security, but not all other industries are at the same level, according to an industry veteran at multinational aerospace and defence firm Airbus Continue Reading

How Estonia took a digital lead

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at one of the world’s most digitally advanced nations, Estonia, and ask what the UK government can learn from this small Baltic state. We talk to Airbus about how aircraft manufacturers are prioritising cyber security. And we examine how AI and robots will augment – not replace – human productivity. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Australia’s health sector reports most data breaches again

In the first full quarter since Australia’s mandatory breach disclosure scheme came into effect, healthcare providers reported the most data breaches amid controversy over the national health record system Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

Dixons Carphone ups data breach figure to 10 million

Dixons Carphone now believes the number of personal data records affected in 2017’s data breach is nearly 10 times greater than initially thought Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Briton ran pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign that helped Trump deny Russian links

A British IT manager and former hacker from Darlington ran a disinformation campaign that duped former US intelligence agents and provided Donald Trump with manufactured “evidence” to deny that Russia interfered with the US election Continue Reading

By

• Duncan Campbell , 2QQ Ltd, Sussex University

Pentagon flags risky software suppliers

The Pentagon has drawn up a list of software suppliers that it wants the US military and defence contractors to avoid due to fears of risks to national security Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Not all security service providers are created equal

What critical security controls can be outsourced, and how do organisations, SMEs in particular, maintain confidence that they are being managed effectively and appropriately? Continue Reading

By

• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Digital identity system for EU nationals should be used for all UK citizens, says report

Policy Exchange report recommends extending Home Office system for registering EU nationals post-Brexit to become UK-wide digital identity application Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Search begins for UK’s cyber security Unsung Heroes

The Security Serious cyber awareness campaign has opened nominations for the third annual cyber security Unsung Heroes awards Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Burden of data protection rests on firms and governments

A senior executive at Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency stressed the role of corporate data governance and government regulations in raising the bar on cyber security Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Post-quantum security on Airbus’s radar

With quantum computing on the horizon, multinational aerospace and defence firm Airbus is among those organisations that are looking at evolving their cryptography capabilities to stay ahead of technology Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Fileless malware a growing trend, warns McAfee

Cyber attackers are increasingly moving away from traditional malware to using trusted Windows executables to invade systems and breach corporate networks, say security researchers Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Hackers targeting software supply chains, US report warns

A US government report on cyber espionage by China, Russia and Iran says software supply chains are increasingly under attack Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

App users in developing APAC prefer convenience over security

By Kimberly Chua Mobile app users in developing Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries prefer convenience over security, signaling a potential rift between companies and users, a new F5 Networks study has ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Large organisations less confident over cloud security compared to smaller businesses

A study has found larger enterprises are not as confident as smaller businesses about the security of their data in the public cloud Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Brace for PowerGhost cryptominer, warns Kaspersky Lab

Corporate networks are the target of a new illicit cryptocurrency mining malware that is difficult to detect and eradicate, security researchers warn Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Crest report highlights need for bug bounty best practice

A lack of best practice guidelines for bug bounties is leaving researchers, organisations and bounty platforms confused and at risk, a report reveals Continue Reading

Cities key to making data a new form of infrastructure, says Nesta

City governments need to take charge of data use and leverage responsible innovation, as data should not be seen as a saleable commodity, but a common good, according to the innovation foundation Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad